(Posted 14 January 2015) After what seems like weeks of cloud and/or rain in Canberra, the skies finally cleared for me to look for Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2). It was very easy to see from Canberra in my 70 mm binoculars and bordered on the edge of unaided eye visibility from Southern Canberra’s relatively dark skies. The green colour visible in even a short exposure was evident to my eyes through the binoculars.
Sadly the poor quality of my tripod (too much vibration due to it’s light weight) mean that the only image I could use of the comet is a crop from a 55 mm image. Still the colour is visible in even this brief four second exposure (ISO-6400).
If you want to know where to look for the comet tonight, I have posted a chart that covers the period 15 – 28 January 2014.
